All monitored tasks are stored in TestList files (with the HML extension - HostMonitor List). Any number of HML files can be created, but only one may be loaded into the program at any given time. However, if you need to perform simultaneously multiple tests defined in different HML files, you can launch several instances of HostMonitor, each with its own HML file.

To open an HML file, either

• use the File -> Load TestList menu command;
• pick one of the recently used HML files listed under File -> Recent list
• specify a file to load in the HostMonitor command line using the parameter "/List=TestListFileName";
• or define a default TestList in the Options dialog on the "Startup" page.

By default, the last used file is loaded at program startup.
You can also load an HML file implicitly as part of an HMS script (see the LoadTestList command for more details). To run a script use the File -> Execute script menu command.

All commands for operations with TestLists are located in the "File" menu:

New TestList	-	Closes the current list (if opened) and creates a new empty list
Load TestList	-	Displays the Open dialog box for loading an existing TestList
Recent List	-	Follow the arrow to choose from the list of recently used TestList files
Append from HML file	-	Appends items from an existing HML file to the current list
Import from IP-Tools	-	Imports data from an IP-Tools HostList file and appends the items to the current list
Import from Text file	-	Imports data from a special format text file
Export to Text file	-	Exports the settings of all (or selected) tests into text file
Start HML Manager	-	Starts the HML Manager utility for manipulations with tests in HML files
Execute script	-	Executes an HMScript
Save	-	Saves the current file
Save as	-	Saves the current file under a new name
Print	-	Prints a report
Exit	-	Exits HostMonitor

All information relating to the tests defined in the current TestList, is displayed in the program's main window.

The main HostMonitor window is divided into five logical areas, each of which can be made visible or hidden in menu View (except the Test Detail Area, which is always visible):

• Folder Tree & Views list;
• Test Detail Area;
• Info Pane & Quick Log Pane;
• Folder bar;
• Status bar

This window is customizable to your personal preferences. You can change font style and font color, select color palette, change size or make some parts invisible, select style for test list, etc (Click here to see more screen shots).
For more information see Options->Interface and Options->Preferences.

First introduced in HostMonitor v. 3.0, folders help you organize your tests in logical groups presented as a tree-like structure. The folder tree is displayed in the left-hand panel of the main HostMonitor window. Each folder may contain tests and/or nested subfolders, and has a number of properties which you may change or edit in Folder Properties dialog.
Those settings are located on the following pages:

• Columns
• Folder colors
• Reports
• Statistics
• Regional
• Comment
• Variables
• Special

• Columns:
  on this page you may define the list of visible fields (in other words the list of test attributes to display) and the list of attributes to sort tests by;
  
  
• Folder colors:
  on this page you may select a Color palette specific to the folder (by default all folders use the same palette, specified in the Options dialog);
  
  
• Reports:
  up to 6 individual reports can be associated with a folder;
  You may use "Generate reports every N min" option to tell HostMonitor how often reports should be generated. "Generate reports now" button allows you to create reports immediately (e.g. for testing purposes).
  If you need to create reports every time a test changes its status, you may add the "Generate reports" action to the Actions Profile. The other way to implement the same behavior would be to add a "Run HMS Script" action, and include a CreateReport command in the script to execute.
  Note: To exclude some tests from reports use test property "Exclude from reports".
  
  Execute action profile when complete
  With this option enabled HostMonitor will create report files and then launch the specified alert profile (for example you may use this option to send reports by e-mail). Note: only "scheduled" actions will be executed, i.e. a condition to start action should be set to "on the schedule" (in Action Properties dialog).
  
  
• Statistics:
  settings on this page allow you to setup a schedule to reset statistical information for the tests.
  Please note: if you are using "quarterly" schedule and "Last day" option, HostMonitor will reset statistics on the last day of the LAST month of each quarter (March, June, September and December). This is different from other type of "quarterly" schedule - when you are using some specified day to perform action (e.g. 1st day), then statistics will be cleared on a specified day of the FIRST month of each quarter (January, April, July and October).
  
  
• Regional:
  here you may specify GMT offset different from your local time zone and mark one or both options:
  - Apply remote site time settings to GUI and reports
  - Apply remote site time settings to schedules assigned to the tests and actions
  
  "Apply remote site time settings to GUI and reports"
  This option tells HostMonitor and RCC to display test properties (such as time when the test was last performed, creation time, modification time, time when test status was acknowledged, etc) using time of the specified region (time zone).
  Note #1: By default descendant sub-folders inherit regional options from parent folder however you may set different time zone for each subfolder. Nevertheless HostMonitor/RCC applies the same time zone for all visible items using settings of the selected (parent / current) folder for entire list (view / report). "All visible items" may have the following meanings:
  - all test items displayed when some Folder is selected
  - all test items displayed by some View
  - all test items included into report file
  In other words: all test items included into view/report are displayed with the same time zone settings; HostMonitor uses time zone of the selected (parent/current) folder for entire view/report.
  For example you create "USA" folder with "New-York" and "Seattle" subfolders (USA -> NewYork; USA -> Seattle) and set GMT -5 for USA and New-York, GMT -8 for Seattle. Then if you generate report for USA including subfolders (New-York and Seattle!), all test items within this report will use GMT -5 time zone. If you generate report for "Seattle" subfolder, test items within this report will use GMT -8 time offset.
  This allows you to create similar sets of reports (the same list of folder and tests) using local time for one set and using remote time for another set of reports. You may create one empty folder and include 2nd folder with tests into this empty one using different regional settings for parent and descendant folders.
  Note #2: "Apply remote site time settings to GUI and reports" option does not affect DBF reports; it works for Text, HTML, and WML reports.
  
  "Apply remote site time settings to schedules assigned to the tests and actions"
  This option tells HostMonitor to apply time restrictions (schedules) to tests and alerts execution using time of specific time zone. This allows you to apply the same schedule for test items used to monitor hosts around the world.
  By default descendant sub-folders inherit regional options from parent folder however you may set different time zone for each subfolder.
  
  Note: There are special macro variables that allow you to use remote site time as parameters of the actions.
  
  
• Comment:
  inheritable comment for the folder. It can be used for informational purposes; also comments can be used as parameters for actions. E.g. you may use 1st comment line as a destination e-mail address for alerts that send notification messages to responsible staff. Another comment line may be used as a name of the server that should be rebooted by "restart remote system" action. In this way you may use a single action profile for sending alerts to different recipients that are responsible for tests within the folder.
  You can access the whole comment or a particular comment line using macro variables %FolderComment%, %FCommentLineXX% (where XX is a number of the line). For more information, refer to macro variables section of this manual.
  
  
• Folder-related variables
  Here you may specify folder-related user-defined variables. Just like comment lines, list of variables can be inherited from parent folder or you may specify unique list of variables for particular folder.
  These variables can be used as parameters of actions assigned to test items, so you may define descriptive variable like fvar_BackupMailServerIP = 10.10.1.15 and use %fvar_BackupMailServerIP% variable instead of non descriptive %FCommentLine2%. What is more important, these variables can be used as parameters of test items (see Templates)!
  Note: To add a new variable to the end of the list go to the last existing line and press Down Arrow key. Press INSERT button to insert a new line. Press CTRL+DEL to remove variable. Press F2 to edit variable.
  Also dialog provides popup menu that allows you to sort items alphabetically by name or by value.
  
  
• Specials:
  following options are not inheritable; it means subfolders do not inherit such behavior unless you specify the option directly for subfolders as well.
  Non-simultaneously test execution. With this option enabled tests that located in the folder will not be executed at the same time. Test items located in different folders may be executed simultaneously even in case option is set for all of these folders. Option is useful when you need to call some non-reentrant application/script.
  Test statuses should not affect tray icon color. As you know HostMonitor changes color of the tray icon when a test fails. This option allows you to make exception for set of test items.

A new folder automatically inherits properties defined for the parent folder (the top folder inherits the common settings defined in the Options dialog). Once a folder is created, you can change its properties as needed, rename or delete the folder, create tests and nested subfolders, and so on.
For example. you can set up a folder representing your company, define a set of report profiles (for the administrator, IT manager, technical support crew, etc.), then create several subfolders, one for each of the company's offices, and you are done! HostMonitor will be automatically generating uniform reports for all company offices (each report will contain test results specific to the office).
In another example, folders can be created based on a test method (Ping, CPU Usage, etc.). For each folder, define a different set of visible columns, depending on the type of test. Thus, for a ping test folder a logical choice would include the "Reply" field, whereas for a CPU Usage folder catalog the "Average reply" field might make sense.
Folder properties are edited in the Folder Properties dialog available through the Properties command in the pop-up menu that appears when you right-click on a folder.

As you can see in the picture above, the editable properties on the Columns page are grayed out. This is because the "Use inheritable settings from parent" option is selected, which means the folder being edited does not define properties (visible columns in this case) of its own, but rather uses ones specified somewhere up the folder hierarchy. This way, changes made to an upper-level catalog are automatically propagated onto its descendent subfolders.

Similarly, the other folder properties, like Color Scheme and Reports, can be either inherited from the parent or set individually for any particular folder.
HostMonitor supports Drag & Drop operations, allowing you to easily move folders around, change their display order, and move tests from one catalog to another.

In addition to Folders tree (first introduced in HostMonitor 3.0), HostMonitor 6.70 provides another feature - Views list.

What is the difference between folders and views?

• Folders contain static set of test items. "Static" means HostMonitor does not change set of test items, however operator may add or remove items from the folder, move or copy test items from one folder to another, etc.
• Views do not "contain" test items, you cannot add or remove test items from the view. Instead you may specify rules that tell HostMonitor which test items should be displayed by the view. E.g. you may use one view to display disabled test items, use another view to display all ping test items with reply time over 500 ms and setup 3rd view to show test items that changed status in last 10 minutes.

• For each folder and view you may specify its own set of reports, color palette, list of visible fields and sorting mode; or you may keep "Use inheritable settings from parent" option to use the same palette or sorting mode for set of views.
• Folders and views allow you to select single test item or set of test items and modify the test(s) parameters, e.g. you may change test properties, enable or disable items, acknowledge test status, etc.

• View criteria
• Columns
• Colors
• Reports
• Comment

• Select items by status
• Select items by test method
• Select items by stats
• Select items by test properties

• Alive ratio > N%
• Dead ratio > N%
• Unknown ratio > N%
• Reply > N
• Reply < N
• Status duration > N min
• Status duration < N min

Test name
This filter allows you to select test items by name. If you mark the option and specify a string to compare, the view will display test item when its name contains specified text (case insensitive).
This filter allows you to specify several search strings separated by a comma, e.g. mail server test,dns test or 10.10.1.5,192.168.1. Note: do not use space between elements, just a comma.

Target
This filter allows you to select test items by target object (target host/file/port/service/folder/process/etc monitored by the test items). Here you may specify hostname used for Ping, TCP, UDP, SMTP and other internet related tests, IP address or part of the address, filename used for the file related test methods, etc.
E.g.

• If you type "www.mywebserver.com", the view will display test items that check host www.mywebserver.com (it can be Ping, TCP, URL, HTTP or some other tests).
• If you type "applog.txt", the view will display all test items that check file applog.txt (e.g. Folder/File Size, Text Log, File Integrity or Folder/File Availability test methods).
• You may use "Target" filter to display all test items that monitor some specific process on various servers (use name of the process as target, e.g. ntvdm.exe) or you may use this filter to show all test items that monitor various processes on some specific server (use name of the server as target, e.g. bdk100.domain2.com)
• Also you may use full IP address or part of the IP address, e.g. "192.168.12.10" tells HostMonitor to display all test items that check specific host 192.168.12.10, while "192.168.12" tells HostMonitor to display tests items that check any host in range 192.168.12 1-192.168.12.255 or *.192.168.12

Test by (agent)
Here you may provide name of the agent (RMA) that performs the tests or type "HostMonitor" to show test items performed directly by HostMonitor.
This filter allows you to specify several search strings separated by a comma, e.g. agent-1,remoteagent2 or 10.10.1.5,192.168.1. Note: do not use space between elements, just a comma.

Comment
This filter allows you to select test items by test comment. If you mark the option and provide some text, the view will display test item when any line of the test comment contains specified text (case insensitive).


Columns page
On this page you may define the list of visible fields (in other words the list of test attributes to display) and the list of attributes to sort tests by. If you keep "Use inheritable settings from parent" option, view will inherit settings from the top view that, in turn, may inherit global settings specified in the Options dialog.

Colors page
On this page you may select a color palette specific to the view. If you keep "Use inheritable settings from parent" option, view will inherit color scheme from the top view that, in turn, may inherit global settings specified in the Options dialog.

Reports page
Up to 6 individual reports can be associated with each view. If you keep "Use inheritable settings from parent" option, HostMonitor will not create separate reports for the view unless you specify this view as parameter of "Generate reports" action. "Use inheritable settings from parent" option also tells HostMonitor to include the view(s) into reports created for parent (source) folder when

• You are using "Generate reports" action with "Folder + subfolders/views with inherited settings" option to create folder-level reports
• You are using "Generate reports every N min" folder-level option

Appearing on the right side, the Test Detail Area displays, in table form, tests contained in the current (selected) folder and (if the Show tests in subfolders option is enabled) its descendent subfolders. As was mentioned in the Folder Tree section, display parameters for the Test Detail Area, like visible columns, color scheme, etc can be changed for the whole program or for the selected folders.

As you would expect, all tests defined in the working TestList are performed according to their schedules, regardless of whether they are currently displayed or not.
To perform the operations with a test or a group of tests you can use Toolbar, popup menu or a Test menu in the main window of the program. Tests and their parameters are defined in the Test Properties dialog.


Toolbar


The Test DetailArea toolbar is located right above the test grid, and contains six buttons accompanied by a pull-down menu:

Add button - brings up the Test Properties dialog to let you create a new test;
Add pull-down menu - lists all available test methods; choosing an item brings up the Test Properties dialog with the appropriate test method pre-selected in it.
Edit button - allows you to edit the properties of the selected test in the Test Properties dialog.
Remove button - removes the selected test.

Refresh button - refreshes status information for tests in the selected folder, by performing each of the tests immediately.
Refresh pull-down menu:

• Refresh selected host(s);
• Refresh current folder only;
• Refresh current folder and subfolders;
• Refresh all tests.

• Reset selected host(s);
• Reset current folder only;
• Reset current folder and subfolders;
• Reset all tests.

• Just copy
  this option tells application to create exact* copy of selected test items.
  
• Edit copied items before using
  this option allows you to modify test properties for each copy of the test(s). HostMonitor will not execute new test(s) until you close Test Properties dialog using "Ok" button. Also you may click "Cancel" button, in such case HostMonitor will offer a choice: skip (do not copy) this test item or skip this and the following items from being copied.
  
• Disable copied items
  tells application to create copy of selected test items and disable copies from being tested (you may edit and then enable test items at convenient time)
  

With the Info Pane made visible, information on the currently selected test is displayed in the resizable area at the bottom, right below the Test Detail Area, allowing you to grasp a test's details at one sight. The Info Pane comes in particularly handy when you choose to display tests in the Test Detail Area as small or large icons (see Options dialog -> Interface page for more information on display options).
Use menu "View" -> "Info Pane" to make this pane visible or to hide it.

Quick Log pane allows you to check the history of latest events for each test or entire folder. When you select menu "View" -> "Quick Log", HostMonitor opens a pane located at the bottom of the main window and displays last 10 events for selected test or 50 events for selected folder (folder's list includes last events for every test within the folder).
Quick Log may work in 3 different modes:

• Show test results
• Show actions
• Show test results and actions

"Show test results" mode
The term "event" means a log record that was added with every test status change. If logging mode for the test is set to "Reply" or "Full", HostMonitor will add a new record when test status changes or the value of "Reply" field changes.
There is popup menu item "Find the test". It allows for a test that generated the selected log record to be found quickly and is useful when the Quick Log shows records for entire folder.

In "Show actions" mode, HostMonitor shows the following information:
  - Event time: the time when action has been executed (or failed)
  - Test: name of the test item that had triggered action execution
  - Status: status of the test
  - Action result: result of the action execution
  - Action method: type of the action
If "use color palette" option is enabled, HostMonitor uses different colors for executed and failed actions. If you select specific test in Test Details Pane, HostMonitor will display latest actions triggered by this test only. If no test is selected, folder item is selected or several test items are selected, HostMonitor will display actions triggered by all test items within current folder, sorting actions by time of execution.
Note: you may tell HostMonitor to ignore some actions, i.e. do not store information about action results in Quick Log. The option "Quick Log: store action results" is located in Action Properties dialog. You may disable the option for non-important actions, like "Play sound" action.

The Folder Bar provides a convenient way of accessing the tree when you need it, so that you can hide the Folder Tree panel and free up some screen space for the Test Detail Area. The name of the currently selected folder appears in the text box inside the Folder Bar. To select a different folder, pick a folder in the folder tree dialog that pops up when you click the button to the right of the text box.

Depending on the mouse pointer position, the Status Bar provides you with some helpful information on where you are and what is going on.